Botanical classification: Rosa hybrida.
Variety denomination: xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99.
The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of garden rose plant which originated from a controlled crossing between a female parent xe2x80x98POULsintxe2x80x99, an unpatented variety, and the male parent, an unnamed plant. The two parents were crossed during the summer of 1994, and the resulting seeds were planted in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark. The new variety is named xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99.
The new variety may be distinguished from its female parent, xe2x80x98POULsintxe2x80x99, by the following combination of characteristics:
1. The seed parent has very small flower size, less than 5 cm, while xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 has larger flowers on average of 28 mm when open.
2. The seed parent has narrow and bushy growth habit, while xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 has a broader and climbing habit.
The new variety may be distinguished from its pollen parent, an unnamed plant, by the following combination of characteristics:
1. The pollen parent flower petal color, open flower, upper surface is White Group 155D. xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 has flower petal color, open flower, upper surface of Red Group 55B.
2. The pollen parent flower petals after opening are White Group 155D, while xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 has flower petals after opening of Red Group 55B.
The objective of the hybridization of this rose variety was to create a new and distinct variety for garden use with unique qualities, such as:
1. Uniform and abundant light pink flowers;
2. Vigorous, but compact growth when propagated both as a budded rose and on its own roots;
3. Disease resistance.
4. Improved flowering habit. Since the variety is less apically dominant, flowers are produced evenly from lower branches to the top.
This combination of qualities is not present in previously available commercial cultivars of this type, known to the inventors, and distinguish xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 from all other varieties of which we are aware.
As part of their rose development program, L. Pernille Olesen and Mogens N. Olesen germinated the seeds from the aforementioned hybridization during winter 1994 and conducted evaluations on the resulting seedlings in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark.
xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 was selected in the spring 1995 by the inventors as a single plant from the progeny of the aforementioned hybridization.
Asexual reproduction of xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 by traditional budding and rooted cuttings was first done by L. Pernille and Mogens N. Olesen in their nursery in Fredensborg, Denmark in July, 1995. This initial and other subsequent asexual propagations conducted in controlled environments have demonstrated that the characteristics of xe2x80x98POULyc006xe2x80x99 are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.